When the security was yet to be beefed up at the varsity gates, Seema escaped the eyes of a security guard, who reportedly had an older picture of her.

Activist Seema Azad delivering a speech on the Panjab University campus on Friday.(HT Photo)

It was 6am on Friday morning when Seema Azad had entered the Panjab University (PU) campus, through gate number 3.

When the security was yet to be beefed up at the varsity gates, she escaped the eyes of a security guard, who reportedly had an older picture of her.

By 7.38am, security was doubled up at the gates and wardens were alerted. However, she was already inside the campus by then having her breakfast at one of the department canteens.

Out of the entire SFS organisation, only three members knew about the plan, out of which two remained with Seema till the time she left the campus.

SFS president Damanpreet who was taken into preventive custody on Friday afternoon, a few hours before their seminar was supposed to begin, shared that a very small team was aware of the entire plan and nobody in the organisation had any idea if Seema was already on the campus. Seema was in the city on Saturday as per the SFS president but she could not be contacted.

“We cannot disclose much but yes, she came on Friday morning. However, there were four challenges in front of us and we overcame all of them,” said Daman.

He added, “The first challenge was to hold the seminar despite restrictions, the second was when we were told that if Seema Azad enters the campus, she will be arrested, but we were adamant that she will come, speak but will not get arrested. The third challenge was to present her before the audience in a way that nobody recognises her and the last challenge was to rush her out of the campus after her speech, knowing fully well that ABVP protesters and a huge police force was around and we were in a barricaded area.”

One of the senior members of SFS and even the spokesperson of the organisation claimed that till the last moment when Seema was introduced, they had no idea how it was planned.

A special team was made to execute the plan.

What officials say

Chief security officer, Panjab University (PU), Ashawani Kaul said, “If the organisation is claiming to have been successful in organising the seminar, we were also successful in terms of maintaining law and order on the campus.”

He added, “They presented and introduced her so well that even I could not recognise her even after standing right in front of her, listening to her speech and even after knowing how she looks like.”

Even senior CID officials were overheard saying that the girl who was the last speaker cannot be Seema Azad since the speaker looked fairer than the original picture that they had seen.

Sources from PU said rigorous checking was done in each of the girls’ hostels throughout the night.

Some girls were put on secret duty to keep a check in the rooms on all floors, following the rumours that she was in hostel number 6, then in hostels number 5 and 2.

Sources from the SFS said, “It was not feasible to make her stay in any of the hostels because of the rigourous checking. Had we taken a room in hostel, we wouldn’t have been able to come out of it.”